Their Girl
by BabyBeaver
Summary: Couldn't think of a better title. Feel free to suggest one! NOw two versions of how Eric and Carly met. Based on All-American Girl and Every Little Thing.
1. Thier American Girl

**I pulled the lyrics off the Internet on January 26, 2008, while working on Butterfly. Figured I needed to tell more about how Carly and Eric met, and thought about this song (All-American Girl by Carrie Underwood)… This is the result.**

**It's kind of about both Carly and Eric and Fillmore and Ingrid, but…yeah. You can't really discuss a teenage relationship without including the parents' reactions, can you? Plus, the first two verses are about the father's reaction and such, so I had to have at least Fillmore involved!**

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_Since the day they got married  
He'd been praying for a little baby boy  
Someone he could take fishing  
Throw the football and be his pride and joy  
He could already see him holding that trophy  
Taking his team to state_

_But when the nurse came in with a little pink blanket  
All those big dreams changed  
_

Before Carly had been born, Fillmore hadn't thought much about having children. After Carly had been born, she had stolen his heart, just as Ingrid had. He sometimes joked that it was genetic, and that whoever Carly ended up marrying would be hooked from the second he first talked to her.

_And now, he's wrapped around her finger  
She's the center of his whole world  
And his heart belongs to that sweet, little, beautiful, wonderful, perfect  
All American girl  
_  
As she grew up, Fillmore had become even more attached to her. Again, he usually attributed this to genetics, but everyone knew better. She had captured his heart from the moment he'd first seen her.

_Sixteen short years later  
She was falling for the senior football star  
_

When Carly had started high school, she had become obsessed with a senior football player. Fillmore hadn't understood the situation for a while. He just knew that Carly wouldn't stop talking about some guy named Eric who was on the school football team.

Not entirely knowing why his daughter was so obsessed with the boy and finding the age difference a little worrisome, Fillmore had hoped Carly's feelings for the kid would fade with time.

Of course, he'd had no such luck. If anything, her obsession with Eric had increased.

Before you knew it he was dropping passes  
Skipping practice just to spend more time with her 

When Eric had started skipping football practice and showing up at the house with Carly, Fillmore had been alarmed and suspicious. He'd taken Eric aside one evening after Ingrid had suggested he stay for dinner and asked him flat out what his intentions were. Eric had been sincere and serious, responding that he wasn't surprised at Fillmore's questions but that he wasn't going to intentionally hurt Carly's feelings and was intrigued by her.

That had hit Fillmore quite hard, reminding him of his first thoughts on Ingrid, and he'd backed off, taking Eric's word.

_  
The coach said, "Hey, son, what's your problem?  
Tell me, have you lost your mind?"  
Daddy said "You'll lose your free ride to college;  
boy, you better tell her goodbye."_

Eric had been scolded many times by his coach and yelled at quite a few times by his father, and he'd become so fearful of the latter that he had shown up on the Fillmores' front porch one night with a duffel bag in hand. He explained that his father had started to get physical in his quest to get Eric to stop spending time with Carly and that Eric was afraid his father might go so far as to severely injure him.

He had apologized for showing up unannounced and at such a late hour, but had been frantic. He'd asked if Fillmore knew anywhere he could stay until his father cooled off a little. Without hesitation, Fillmore had ushered the boy to the guest bedroom, rattling off a few conditions under which Eric was allowed to stay. Eric had agreed, looking extremely relieved, and Fillmore had promised to keep an eye on Mr. Phillips.

But now, he's wrapped around her finger  
She's the center of his whole world  
And his heart belongs to that sweet, little, beautiful, wonderful, perfect  
All American  


Of course, as Fillmore had expected in their situation, Eric and Carly had become even closer since they were under the same roof. They talked all the time, knew everything about each other, and were almost siblings. Keyword being **almost**.

Ingrid and Fillmore had many discussions about the duo's relationship, debating whether or not letting Eric stay with them had been a good idea. Fillmore tried to reassure Ingrid that Eric wasn't going to be much trouble at all, and teased her about not knowing everything as he was accustomed to thinking she did. She glared at him, and he smiled.

"Ingrid, you're her mother. Aren't mothers supposed to know these things?"

"I'm not that smart," Ingrid retorted, asking, "Just why did you let him stay **here**, of all places? This would be the first place his father would look for him, don't you think?"

Fillmore smiled almost proudly as he replied, "The man knows I'm a cop, Ingrid. I have a feeling he isn't going to mess with me. Therefore, he won't try anything with his son under my care."

"But couldn't you have brought him to Anza or something?"  
Fillmore raised his eyebrows and answered, "Ingrid, the kid's here every afternoon. We may as well keep an eye on him all the time. Of course, we have no reason to worry about him trying anything, but it's nice to be sure."

"How do you know he's that trustworthy?"

Fillmore smiled, replying, "Because, Third, the boy reminds me of somebody we both know."

Ingrid frowned in confusion, and he explained with a smile, "Think of him as a younger, paler version of me."

Ingrid blinked, and Fillmore chuckled. "See the resemblance?"

"That was _not_ quite what I wanted to hear…" Ingrid stuttered, her eyes narrowing as she reminded him, "Remember Auggie?"

"I thought we already talked about that. You still don't believe me?"

"Not entirely."

"Yeah, well, it doesn't really matter now, does it? And really, it didn't matter back then, either…"

"Pardon me?"

Fillmore grinned, explaining, "It doesn't matter that I opened my eyes two seconds earlier than you would have liked me to. It turned out fine, didn't it?"

"By fine, you mean…"

"I figure we were kind of destined to end up together. Everybody at school tried to convince us of it, but we ignored them until high school. They were right, so does it really matter?"

"Are you saying that since Eric is basically you he and Carly will end up together so we shouldn't worry about what they do together?" Ingrid asked, looking at him in disbelief.

"For a genius, you're not catching on very quickly," Fillmore quipped, grinning.

The joke earned him a glare from Ingrid and he laughed.

"What I'm saying is that Eric respects us, and, more importantly, he respects Carly. He's not going to betray her trust or ours by doing something stupid, nor would he want to disappoint us by hurting Carly."

He grinned, continuing, "Plus, he knows I'd throw him in jail in a second if I thought he was going to hurt my daughter in any way, shape or form."

Ingrid sighed, apparently satisfied, and grabbed a pillow from the couch, throwing it at him with a grin.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"What else?"

Fillmore groaned. "You're not still hung up over that, are you? For crying out loud, it was seventh grade! Haven't you ever heard of puberty?"

"Of course. But that still doesn't give you license to—"

Before Ingrid could finish her rant, Fillmore clapped a hand over her mouth, grinning. "Keep ranting and I'll tell Car what really happened to her baby blanket."

Ingrid's gaze narrowed and she pulled his hand away. "That's blackmail. Don't you put people away for that?"

"Mmmm… Guess you'd better stop talking. Unless you'd like me to go to jail…"

Ingrid groaned exasperatedly, giving up. "Okay, well, what do you suggest we do about Eric and Carly?"

"Quit worrying," Fillmore stated simply, smiling.

_  
And when they got married _

After he'd graduated and gone off to college, when Carly was twenty, Eric had returned from college one weekend and approached Fillmore rather nervously, asking to speak to him privately. Ingrid and Carly weren't going to be home for a while, so Fillmore had welcomed Eric into the house, leading him to the living room to chat.

"I…you know I'm grateful that you let me stay here for a while, and that you trusted me with Carly. I'm sure you already realized this, but we got really close, and…"

Eric paused warily and Fillmore smiled as he interpreted, "You're in love with her."

"I…" Eric's face turned red, and he couldn't respond.

"I've known that for a long time, man. You've been attached to her since she started high school. I always figured that would happen to whoever Carly ended up with."

Eric looked at him quizzically, and Fillmore explained, "She's just like her mother. Happened to me in middle school, so I figured Carly would catch somebody's attention eventually. I just didn't realize it'd be you. To be honest with you, I wasn't entirely sure about you at first. I didn't really like the age difference, and I know teenage boys. I wasn't sure how trustworthy you were. But when you kept showing up here and gave up football for Carly, I figured you were sincere. When you showed up and asked where you could stay to be safe from your dad, I knew what I had to do. I wasn't too worried about you hurting Carly or betraying my trust. As time went by, you proved me right. On both counts. You're trustworthy, and you fell in love with Carly. Now, you're asking for my permission to marry her."

Fillmore smiled. "How can I say no?"

Eric looked as though a weight had been lifted off his shoulders as Fillmore stood and offered the younger man his hand.

"Congrats, kid. But," he stated, his face serious, "if you so much as think about harming my daughter in any way, shape or form, I'll cuff you so fast your head'll spin for a week."

Eric's eyes widened, his face slightly pale, and Fillmore chuckled. "Relax, son. I know you're too attached to Carly to hurt her."

Eric smiled almost faintly, laughing vaguely as he stood up.

Moments later, the front door flew open and Carly was in the room, hugging Eric as if he had just saved her life.  
Eric laughed as Carly released him, her eyes sparkling.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming back?"

"I wanted to surprise you."

Eric glanced at Fillmore. "And I wanted to talk to your dad."

Carly's expression turned worried, and Fillmore reassured her, "He's not in trouble, Car, really. He just had a question for me."

"Question? What kind of question?" Ingrid asked curiously from the doorway, walking over to stand next to Fillmore.

"Uh…" Eric began, looking to Fillmore.

Fillmore grinned. "Oh, I'm not asking. It's your question. You've probably wanted to ask it for years. Go ahead."

With a deep breath, Eric looked back to Carly and raised a trembling hand to his coat pocket to draw out a small box. "Carly, I… Oh, geez, why can't I ever say anything right?"

He ran a hand through his hair before kneeling and opening the box, its contents eliciting a gasp of surprise from Carly, who hugged him again, this time with tears coursing down her cheeks.

"So I guess that's a yes to the proposal?" Fillmore asked with a laugh, the sound turning to a complaint as Ingrid swatted his shoulder.

"Hey, that's not fair, Third," he chuckled, touching her nose.

Before Ingrid could reply, Carly broke in with, "Mom, Dad, this is kinda my special moment, remember?"

Fillmore grinned. "Oh, right. Your mother's violence distracted me."

"Cornelius—"

Fillmore smiled apologetically at Eric and Carly, silencing Ingrid with a hand to her mouth.

"Third, I'm a cop. You don't mess with cops," he warned her, grinning smugly and receiving a glare from Ingrid.

_  
and decided to have one of their own  
She said, "Be honest, tell me what you want"  
And he said, "Honey, you outta know"_

A few months later, after the wedding and while visiting with both of their parents, Carly announced to all five of them—both sets of parents and Eric—that she had just found out that she was pregnant.

Ingrid and Fillmore were delighted, and Eric's parents were overjoyed, the mothers discussing a baby shower and the fathers grinning at each other and at Eric, who could only stare at Carly.

"Eric? Are you okay?" Carly asked nervously, which snapped Eric out of his trance.

"Of course I'm all right. I'm just a little surprised, is all. A…a baby… I'm gonna be a dad?"

Carly beamed. "Yes. And you'll make a great dad."

"So, are you hoping for a boy or a girl?" Eric's mother, Jean, asked, looking from Carly to Eric for a response.

Carly looked at Eric, who smiled. "I'm thinking a girl…"

Carly's eyes lit up. "Really?"

_  
A sweet, little, beautiful one just like you  
I want a beautiful, wonderful, perfect All American_

"Of course," Eric smiled. "She'll have your genes, which will make her pretty much perfect."

Carly blushed, lowering her gaze.

Eric chuckled. "You know, you look really cute right now..."

Fillmore laughed. "That's exactly what I used to Ingrid when she'd look away."

"And some lucky guy will tell that to our girl someday, I'm sure. It'll be a tradition!" Eric grinned.

Now, he's wrapped around her finger  
She's the center of his whole world  
And his heart belongs to that sweet, little, beautiful, wonderful, perfect  
All American girl 

One year later, on their twins' birthdays, Eric couldn't help but smile. They had wanted a girl, and instead they had gotten a girl and a boy, both healthy and perfect. And Eric and Carly couldn't have been happier. 

All American girl

* * *

**Okay, done and just under 2300 words with lyrics; about 2000 without. Yeah, it's odd, but that's me.**

**It took me a LONG time to finish. I wasn't quite sure about it, and I started another one that was going to be in place of this, but then I started writing more and went, "Maybe I should add them together." So I will. This one and one based on Hawk Nelson's Every Little Thing are about the same thing, mostly, so I decided I'd post one and add the other as a second chapter/alternate story…**

**I know it bounces and changes tenses somewhat, but…that's how I ended up writing it.**

**Sorry for the slight…innuendo with Fillmore and Ingrid. I wanted to include a reference to something in there someplace. I figured that would fit okay, but it could've confused/annoyed some of you. (Then again, it could have made a lot of you happy, which is almost scary to me…)**

**Anyway, review, don't, doesn't really matter. I may take this down and revise it eventually, and I'll gladly take suggestions for other fics I've already got in progress or ideas you've got for other ones (even though that might be kinda plaigerizing...)**

**If you know of a song that would allow me to delve deeper into Carly's personality while growing up, feel free to let me know. I'll be on the lookout too, so hopefully you'll get a better idea of her looks and personality. I need to work on that... Like, soon. **


	2. Every Little Thing

**So I went online and Googled Hawk Nelson lyrics, remembered this song, and copied and pasted it. It's "religious"—Jesus and God are mentioned—so if that bugs you, either ignore those parts or don't read any further. Although ignoring the "religious" parts would kind of take away from the rest of the fic, as it's an essential part of the song and fic… but whatever. It's your choice.**

**Started this January 27, 2008, and it's mine. The lyrics to Every Little Thing belong to Hawk Nelson, and the fic belongs to my imagination. D**

**The song itself is actually from a guy's perspective, but I may not have it from Eric's POV. I'm not sure yet. I haven't really figured out Carly and Eric's personalities yet. xP**

**I was going to add this one in place of another fic, but then I started writing the other one again after a couple months and went, "Hey, maybe this is could be the alternate or something" so I decided to add the fic based on Carrie Underwood's All-American Girl and then add this one as a second chapter. So, yeah.**

* * *

_**I saw her yesterday  
And I never felt a feeling like the one I felt today  
**_

The first time I noticed her, she was walking home from school with a friend. I watched her a little too long, though, because my teammates all started teasing me the second they noticed my dropped jaw. The coach wasn't too pleased that I was more focused on a girl—a freshman girl, no less—than I was on football. He came over and whacked me on the back of the head, actually.

_**And now she's taking over me  
I've never met anyone like you  
Cause I never could find the words to write you**_

I ran into her the next day between classes. Literally ran into. See, I was chatting with my buddy Ricky and wasn't paying attention to where I was going. Thus, I ran into her and succeeded in scattering her books across the floor. I apologized profusely, not realizing who I was talking to until I handed back two of her books. As I stood up again, I came face to face with her, and I could only blink and stammer, "I...um…sorry about that..."

My hand went to my neck, and she smiled at me.  
"Hey, you didn't kill me, so don't worry about it."  
I had to chuckle, which seemed to widen her smile.

"Glad you enjoy my sense of humor."

Those brown eyes sparkled with her smile, but before either of us could continue speaking, Ricky grabbed my arm and pulled me to our next class.

I was just slightly tense as I demanded, "What was that for, man? I'm talking and you just drag me off like that?"

"Dude," Ricky groaned. "A girl? Come on, you know how Coach feels about dating. Not to mention she's a freshman…"

"And just what is wrong with freshmen?" I asked, staring at the other player in disbelief.

Ricky shrugged. "Nothin', I'm just saying Coach wouldn't like it. You'd have to choose."

"Who says I'm gonna start dating the girl? I just bumped into her, for goodness sake!"

"I dunno," Ricky shrugged again. "Just reminding you."

The bell rang, ending our conversation, and I sat down at my desk and tried to pay attention to what my history teacher was trying to say._**She's been on my mind (she's working overtime)  
She's got perfect reasons  
Says she loves to talk to Jesus**_

I didn't talk to her for a while after I bumped into her between classes. I saw her at lunch sometimes, and after school, but I never talked to her.

Well, except in my dreams. I'd get home and sit around and daydream about talking to her more. Of course, if I had told my teammates I would've been made to run ten extra laps at practice. And actually, I started to consider myself a nut. I'd never imagined talking to a girl the way I always seemed to do in my dreams. I'm sure part of that was because Carly (I had found out from one of my teammates, whose sister was a friend of hers) was a Christian, and there were certain things I wasn't going to say around a "goody two-shoes," as my teammates always referred to Christians as. My teammates, on the other hand, would shout ridiculous things across the hallway, the lunchroom, and the football field to any passer-by they knew to be a Christian. They had no qualms about embarrassing themselves and annoying others, something that bugged me immensely.

In short, Carly had consumed my thoughts. I was obsessed.

_**I think I believe her when she says  
Life can be so simple if we'd all just learn to pray  
**_  
Once, at lunch, when I was passing her table, I heard her mention a Bible passage she'd read that morning to a friend of hers. They started discussing faith and prayer, and I heard Carly say something about life being easier if everybody would pray a little more. "After all," she declared, "'prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays.'"

After I'd thought about for a while, I realized I agreed with her. Prayer had certainly made her a nicer person, and I figured that anything that made her happy would make anybody happy.  
_  
__**She's got every little thing I wanted  
And it still feels just like the day it started  
I'll say goodbye to the broken-hearted  
And I could never express the way I felt before tonight**_

Every time I look at her now, I think of the day I first met her, and the night I finally told her how I felt about her. _**She sits there all alone  
She's reading from a chapter that she sometimes calls her own**_

I happened to be driving past her house one afternoon after football practice, and she was just sitting on the porch swing reading. I pulled over and she looked up as I got out of the car. In two seconds, her face turned a pinkish color but she smiled and waved at me.

I headed up the sidewalk to the porch, leaned against the railing, and asked, "Whatcha readin'?"

She held up her Bible and then clarified with a smile, "Song of Songs, to be precise."

"I don't think I've read any of that…" I tipped my head, and Carly smiled.

"It's basically about waiting for true love. I like it because it reminds me of my own life, in a way."

"Ahh… Interesting. Maybe I should read it." I tried to laugh, but it came off nervous.

Carly looked confused. "Really? I would've thought you'd have a girlfriend, being a senior…"

"Don't believe everything you read or hear or see on TV," I smiled. "Not all of us seniors are into dating…"

"Oh."

The front door opened and a man I took to be a friend of the family asked, "What's up out here, Car?"

Carly's head snapped toward the door and she smiled as she answered, "Oh, nothing, Daddy. Just talking to a friend."

"Hmmm… Well, your mother's almost done making supper, so why don't you head inside and set the table, all right?"

"Sure." Carly stood, smiled at me as she said goodbye, and followed her father into the house, but not before he looked me over carefully.

"Well, I'd better get going…" I stammered, heading back to my car and driving home.

_**And now she's taken over me  
This girl I once rejected  
Has now become the girl of my dreams  
**_  
After a few weeks, I realized that I wasn't just intrigued by Carly, I was possibly in love with her.

I'd been spending more time at her house than at football practice, and both my coach and my father were becoming royally ticked off with me.

Carly's dad, too, was wary of me at first, and had even asked me what my intentions were. I had answered him seriously, and he had gotten this surprised look on his face and never questioned me again.

Yup, I was in love.

_**She's got every little thing I wanted  
And it still feels just like the day it started  
I'll say goodbye to the broken-hearted  
And I could never express the way I felt before tonight  
**_  
When I went off to college the next year, it was tough—on Carly and on me. She made me promise to communicate at least once a week. With this little thing called email, I was able to talk to her almost every day.

I knew I was in love—somehow, I just knew it—and finally worked up the courage to tell her so.

But not without consulting her father first. I was done with school, and Carly had been going to college for a year or two, when I finally found myself asking Mr. Fillmore for permission to propose. Actually, I hadn't needed to ask—he knew what I was going to ask and approved immediately.

And when Carly got home, I—very nervously and quite pathetically—proposed and got a hug in response, which Mr. Fillmore interpreted as a yes.

_**She's not an ordinary girl  
I can see it in her eyes  
I'm just an ordinary boy  
God must have heard my prayers last night**_

* * *

**There you have it. Omitted a couple of verses because I didn't feel I needed them. Also left out a couple of things about Eric from the first chapter (staying with the Fillmores) because...I dunno. Didn't see how they would fit with the lyrics, I guess.**

**1377 words with lyrics, 1172 without.**

"**Prayer" quote from ****Soren Kierkegaard. Dunno who he is, but I found the quote and thought it fit, so I used it.**

**You don't have to review if you don't want to, but constructive criticism is usually welcome. I might take this off and revise it eventually…**


End file.
